


Hello, Q, I Missed You

by Allthemfanfics



Series: 00Q [3]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I don't mention them but Q has cats, James Bond Has Feelings, James and Q confess their feelings, M/M, Q Has a Crush, Q Whump, they're both idiots honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25413628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allthemfanfics/pseuds/Allthemfanfics
Summary: In which James Bond returns and Q can't sort out why.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Series: 00Q [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680862
Comments: 3
Kudos: 97





	Hello, Q, I Missed You

Five years ago, James Bond vanished. Five years ago, James Bond retired from his career in espionage. Five years ago, James Bond rode off into the sunset with a Miss Madeleine Swann, leaving behind everyone else. Everything he had ever known, the only friends he'd ever had. He left, and five years passed. He left, and Q waited. Oh, did he wait. And it wasn't because he was lovesick or because he had false hope; it was because James had left plenty of times before. He always came back. Q wasn't hopeful because he was stupid, he was hopeful because he truly believed Bond wouldn't be able to stay away... that the job would always come first for him. 

Until it didn't. 

Something must have truly been different about Madeleine Swann, because this time, Bond didn't come back. 

And Q was... surprised, honestly. Which was odd, because nothing surprised Q--especially nothing that James Bond did. That was something he prided himself on, being able to read the double-oh agent when no one else could. He'd gotten the hang of it after their first encounter at the National Gallery. It hadn't been so hard, really... not as hard as everyone else had made it seem, anyway. Bond was quiet, reserved, and even cold. But from that, Q could get an accurate gauge of who he was as a person, and from those first words they exchanged... Q knew how to talk to him. He suspected that had always been something Bond had appreciated about Q--his wit, his ability to keep up with the older agent. Perhaps he found it a refreshing change of pace. 

But that was what made Bond's behavior after the events of Spectre all the more confusing to Q. He had been certain that Bond's return for the car had been a sign... one that meant Bond wouldn't be able to stay away, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how badly he wanted to. The car had been insurance, a reason to return... or so Q had thought. It was partly why the Quartermaster had handed the keys over. And, perhaps a bit more sentimentally, Q had hoped that the return for the car had been an excuse for Bond getting to see him one last time. Q was well aware of how James Bond kept everyone at arm's length, and even more aware of how much of a flirt he was. And yes, maybe Q had mistaken some of Bond's more friendly banter for flirting earlier. But after he didn't come back... Q realized there had never been anything between them. Not like Q had thought, anyway. 

Maybe he hadn't been as good at reading James Bond as he'd thought. 

Regardless, five years went by. And Q almost forgot about the secret agent. Almost. Then he showed up at his front door looking the same as he always had. As if not a single day had passed since Q had last seen him. At first, Q wasn't sure how to feel, or what to say... so he settled for the first sarcastic remark that came to mind: "So, you're not dead, then?" 

Bond smirked slightly. “Hello, Q, I missed you.” The former double-oh agent brushed past him and into Q’s flat as if there was nothing peculiar about what was happening. Eve Moneypenny gave Q a knowing look before he stepped aside completely to let her in. 

“No, do please come in,” He remarked dryly as he closed the door. Bond had taken it upon himself to explore Q’s flat and make himself at home. Q glanced over at Eve, who had a pleased smirk on her face, to which Q returned with a small scowl. 

Bond finally turned around to face Q and, with the same charming smile Q remembered, he took a step forward. “I’d always wondered where the infamous quartermaster called home,” He said. 

Q raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you didn’t already know. Is it everything you dreamed of and more?” He deadpanned, still unsure of how to feel at the sight of Bond. He was back and, Q had noticed, Miss Swann was not with him. Not that it mattered to Q. Though, he was struggling to hold his tongue to say ‘I told you so.’

Bond simply smiled in return. “It’s exactly how I imagined it.” 

_ He’s imagined my house before?  _ Q found himself pleased to hear this, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. He shook the thought from his head before taking a breath and turning to Eve. He found it much easier speaking to her and pretending Bond wasn’t there. “Why are you two here? I imagine you’ve fucked something up enormously.”

“Well,  _ James  _ has fucked something up enormously,” Eve answered. “But that’s nothing new.”

Q hummed in agreement before he walked over to his desk and sat down at his computer. “And what is it you’ll be needing from me today, Bond?” Not 007. Not James. Never James. “I do hate to break it to you, but you already took our only five million pound prototype car the last time you left, so unfortunately I don’t have another to give you.” 

The moment he uttered those words he knew he shouldn’t have. Q hadn’t meant for them to sound so vile, but it couldn’t be helped. He was angry with Bond, and Q felt he had every right to be, what with the ways things had been left between them.  _ Between us?  _ Q thought.  _ Nothing even happened! He just left…  _

The silence that filled the room shifted to an uncomfortable one, and Q found himself, staring at his empty computer screen, his fingers resting on the keyboard, unmoving. He could feel his heartbeat increase with the tension until finally Eve spoke, “I’ve just remembered, I left something we need in the car, I’ll go and get it.” Her heels clicked against the hardwood flooring until the door opened and closed and she disappeared from the flat. 

Q and Bond had been left alone together, and Q couldn’t decide whether or not he was excited or terrified. Instead, he took a deep breath and exhaled. “So, what is it you’ve gotten yourself into this time?” Q asked, though he refused to turn and face Bond. 

Bond cleared his throat and took a few steps across the room to stand at Q’s desk, he was practically leaning on it. “Oh, you know,” He replied, “I’ve always had shit taste in women.” Q hummed as he tapped his fingers against the keyboard, just needing to find something to do with his hands. “But I suppose I’m just a hopeless romantic in that sense.”

Q couldn’t help but let out a laugh at that and when he glanced up to finally take a good look at him, Q realized that Bond was smiling. Q cleared his throat and turned back to his computer screen. “She betrayed you, then.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement really. Bond hummed in acknowledgment. “I suppose that was to be expected. Well, to everyone else, anyway.” Q knew what he was saying was harsh, but he couldn’t help himself. Bond deserved it. He had just up and left the rest of them to deal with his mess, Q was allowed to be bitter. 

Bond must have picked up on this. “You’re cross with me.” Q snorted and Bond folded his arms across his chest. “Have I upset you?”

Q stifled a laugh and then turned in his chair to finally confront James Bond. “Have you upset me?” He repeated. “Well, what on Earth would I have to be upset about? All of the broken or lost equipment we’ve had to replace over the years thanks to your carelessness? Or perhaps the fact that you left us to deal with the mess that you created on our own? Or maybe the fact that you came back to see me only to take a bloody car so that you could ride off into the sunset with Miss Swann, a woman who had now betrayed you and put England’s national security at risk? Is that what you mean?” Q huffed and suddenly realized that, at some point during his rant, he had gotten to his feet and was now only a few inches from Bond’s face. 

He cleared his throat and straighted his jumper a bit before taking a calming step back. “Believe it or not, Bond, your actions have consequences. What you do affects people. Though, I suppose it was ridiculous of me to assume you cared about any of us or what would happen after you left.” 

For a while, neither of them spoke. Bond stood there, somewhat surprised at this reaction. Q was glad. Shocking James Bond into silence had always been a special skill of his, one that not many other people could say they had. But after a while, the silence had become slightly deafening. Yes, Q was glad he had been able to shock the former double-oh agent into silence, but he also wanted him to at least say something. Anything. Try to explain himself. 

“If you’re expecting me to apologize and return the car, I hate to say that it’s been… well, let’s just say it isn’t really in great condition,” Bond tried for banter. But Q was hardly in the mood. 

“I don’t give a damn about the car, James!” Q stopped. James. Why had he called him James? It had never been James before, always either Bond or 007. James was far too sentimental, but for some reason, as soon as it had slipped off his tongue, Q found that it felt familiar, like he had said it a thousand times before. Q inhaled deeply and leaned forward against his desk. “I don’t care about the car.” He repeated in a calmer voice. 

Bond raised an eyebrow, tucking his hands into his pockets nonchalantly. “I know.” 

Q looked up at him. “Oh, you know, do you?” 

“Well, after that small outburst you just had, I can tell this isn’t about the car,” He replied. “I left you and Moneypenny, Tanner, M… all of you, to deal with Spectre, with what happened. I didn’t stay long enough to help clean up the mess but I…” Bond sighed. “I just couldn’t, I’ve been doing this job for a long time, Q, and when I finally saw an opportunity to get out… I took it without thinking.” 

Q let these words settle. Of course Bond had jumped at the opportunity to leave. Why wouldn’t he? James was right, he had been doing the job longer than any of the rest of them had, he was tired, he was getting older… who was Q to judge him for leaving so soon? “But you still… you didn’t say goodbye,” He finally said. “I mean, yes, you came for the car… but that was it. You didn’t… I just thought you would…” He sighed again and shook his head. “Never mind, it’s not important.” 

“It’s important if you’re upset,” Bond replied. “You’re upset because I didn’t say goodbye. You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. Especially to you, Q.” 

Q let out a light laugh. “When you came back for the car, I thought that… maybe it meant that you would be coming back,” He admitted. “Maybe you had taken the car so you could return it someday.” Q couldn’t believe how stupid he sounded. “I guess I was wrong for once.” 

“You weren’t exactly wrong,” Bond replied. “I’m back now, aren’t I?”

“Only because you have to be,” Q answered. “You wouldn’t have come back if there hadn’t been a reason to.” 

“How can you be so sure there won’t always be a reason?” 

“Contrary to popular belief, the world doesn’t require saving as often as you think it does.” 

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be a world saving reason,” Bond replied. 

Q raised an eyebrow at him. “What are you on about?” 

“Q, as soon as I realized that I couldn’t stay where I was, I dropped everything and came straight to Moneypenny and to you,” Bond said. “If you’d take a moment to use that big brain of yours to think about why you were my first priority then perhaps you’d realize that I’ve always had a reason to come back.” 

That’s when the first words Bond had said to him registered for Q.  _ “Hello, Q, I missed you.”  _ Q had thought that they had just been words of casual greeting, something witty for Bond to say in response to Q’s remarks. “You… missed me?” He finally asked. 

Bond glanced down at his shoes, and Q could hardly believe it. James Bond, license to kill, infamous double-oh agent, had  _ missed  _ him. “I didn’t come back just for the car,” Bond continued. “I… wanted to see you, before I left.” Q had always hoped that had been the case. “I wanted to thank you for everything you had done for me, but I just--I’ve never been good with those.” 

“Thank yous?” Q questioned.

“I love yous.” 

Q’s breath caught in his throat. “You… you love me?” Q asked. His chest grew tighter as his heart began to race. “I don’t… why the bloody hell did you leave with her, then?” 

Bond shook his head. “It wasn’t until later I realized it,” He admitted. “Madeleine was already there, already waiting. I thought I knew what love was, but I’ve never… I suppose I’ve actually never known it. Not really.”

James Bond loved him. Q couldn’t make sense of any of it. How could James possibly know that he loved him? They had always had a professional relationship… though, Q had to admit, there had been times when he found himself staring at James when he was at Q-Branch, or times where he had been concerned for James’s wellbeing in a way he hadn’t been for other agents before. He had found himself longing for James’s return from a mission, it had gotten to the point where he  _ looked forward  _ to seeing James return broken equipment to Q and smile slyly, offering an apology that Q knew wasn’t real. 

And, of course, Q had wanted James to say goodbye to him. 

“No, I suppose not,” Q finally answered. “I don’t think either of us have, what with our line of work and all.”  _ Say it, you idiot.  _ “You love me.”

“Yes.” 

“That’s why you’re back.” 

“The main reason, yes.” Bond replied. He cleared his throat and pulled at his tie, trying to loosen it. “Of course, I understand if you don’t feel the same way--you’re under no obligation to say anything about it--I didn’t exactly end things between us very well and--”

Q grabbed ahold of Bond’s suit jacket. “James?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.” Q pulled James toward him and pressed their lips together. It felt exactly how Q imagined it would: right. James’s lips on his just felt  _ right,  _ like they belonged there. Like they always had. It almost pissed him off how long it had taken them to realize it. When Q pulled away, James looked slightly shocked, but pleased. “I love you, too, you absolute idiot.” Q said. 

His smile was everything Q needed to see. Q wasn’t sure he had ever seen James Bond honest to God smile, but now that he had, it swore it was one of the most beautiful and perfect things he had ever seen. “You called me James,” He said. 

“I did…”

“You’ve never called me James before.”

Q felt his cheeks go pink. “I don’t have to--if you’d rather I called you Bond--”

“No. Don’t, please,” James replied. “I like it when you call me James.” 

Q smiled and laughed a bit. “All right, James it is.” 

James grabbed Q’s chin and pulled his lips against his own once more. Q smiled against James’s lips and didn’t hesitate to kiss him back. Whatever hell James had let loose could wait a little while longer. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how good this is, but I really wanted to write it, so I hope it's not too unbearable. 
> 
> Anyways, James and Q are definitely in love.


End file.
